The vision: solutions to environmental and social problems begin locally and grow from a relationship to the landscape and community. Since 2001, more than 15 communities in Vermont have participated in the PLACE program. In 2012 the University of Vermont (UVM) began a collaborative project with Casa Pueblo and Centro para la Conservacíon del Paisaje to implement a PLACE program in Puerto Rico, starting with the community of Adjuntas. The PLACE model integrates the physical landscape and ecology and culture to connect the community to its environment by a long-term process involving: